FBI Gets Its First Break in Hacker Investigation

By JACK LEONARD and KRISTIANE M. RIDGWAY

Feb. 12, 2000 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Moving to end one of Orange County’s hottest land-use battles, the Irvine City Council voted narrowly Friday to abandon its lawsuit blocking a massive expansion of the James A. Musick Branch Jail in return for a scaled-back proposal.

At a raucous afternoon meeting, the council voted 3-2 for a compromise that opponents denounced as a “deal with the devil,” drawing loud applause from dozens of angry residents.

The settlement would limit the population at Musick, now 1,256 low-security inmates, to 4,600 minimum- and medium-security inmates prisoners and set up safeguards to protect nearby residents. The proposal, negotiated by Sheriff Mike Carona, forbids adding beds in the next four years and mandates that expansions be phased in gradually.

The compromise, if approved by the county Board of Supervisors, would end more than three years of legal wrangling over plans to expand the jail to more than 7,500 inmates.

“I’ve always made the promise that I will not have Musick a maximum-security facility,” Irvine Councilman Mike Ward said just before casting his vote for the settlement. “I don’t want a San Quentin in Irvine.”

The Lake Forest City Council unanimously agreed in closed session earlier this week to back the compromise, Irvine officials said. The settlement must still win approval from at least three county supervisors, some of whom have watched attempts to curb Musick’s expansion with growing skepticism.

If supervisors add their endorsement, the compromise would clear the way for county officials to add critically needed jail beds at Musick. But the deal falls short of providing the 5,100 extra beds the sheriff says he needs to keep up with projected increases in inmates over the next decade.

With such limits on Musick, the daunting task of finding a remote site for a new jail becomes even more critical, Assistant Sheriff Rocky Hewitt said. A committee of sheriff’s staffers and South County officials has spent nearly a year scouring the county for a suitable location.

“Everybody has to roll up their sleeves and work that much harder now,” Hewitt said. “We’re going to need to have more beds in the future.”

Irvine Councilman Larry Agran, who opposed the compromise, said the settlement would leave county officials with little incentive to find a new jail site. In a stinging rebuke, he argued that the council should wait for the outcome of Measure F, the March 7 ballot initiative that would require a two-thirds countywide vote before the county could build new large jails, hazardous-waste landfills or airports.

“Ordinary citizens know this is crazy,” Agran said after residents voiced their concerns over the settlement. “There wasn’t a single person who came forward [tonight] to support the compromise.”

But Mayor Christina L. Shea argued that, even if Measure F passes, the initiative’s supporters probably wouldn’t gain the right to a countywide vote on the jail’s fate, for the county has already approved expansion. The two cities’ lawyers, she said, are fast “running out of ammunition to win this case in court.”

Instead, Shea urged her colleagues to vote for the agreement, calling it a realistic compromise to stop construction of a maximum-security facility.

The debate has been fierce in Irvine and Lake Forest, where the nearest residents are only 700 feet from the jail. Before Friday’s meeting, Irvine council aides spent the day fielding 114 calls from residents who voiced outrage at the proposed compromise. Only one caller expressed support.

To allay local fears, the sheriff has promised to step up patrols around the jail. Other terms of the settlement include freezing the number of inmates at Musick if the county builds a new jail, and reviewing every 10 years whether Musick could be closed and its inmates transferred.

County supervisors have long seen Musick as the answer to chronic jail crowding in Orange County, which is under a federal court order to find a solution. While Supervisor Tom Wilson has said he would likely support any deal favorable to the two cities, Supervisors Cynthia Coad and Charles V. Smith have expressed doubt about how the compromise would meet the county’s need for maximum-security cells.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Jail Travail

Irvine and Lake Forest have been at loggerheads with Orange County for years over a plan to expand the James A. Musick Branch Jail. The county wants a maximum-security facility with 7,500 inmates. But local residents bitterly oppose the plan. Officials are seeking a compromise.

James A. Musick Branch Jail

Opened: 1960

Size: 100 acres

Population: 1,000 men, 120 women

Inmate offenses: Nonviolent crimes such as drug use, burglary and failure to pay child support.

Bed Check

The compromise Musick jail plan would still make it the biggest detention facility in the county. The comparison in number of beds:

Peter Pitchess Jail, Los Angeles County: 8,500

‘Twin Towers’ Jail, Los Angeles County: 4,100

Expanded Theo Lacy Branch Jail, Orange: 2,900

Orange County Main Jail, Santa Ana: 1,200

Santa Ana City Jail: 470